Rumor Central: Ben Affleck Helped Save ‘Batman v Superman’

I’ve said this from the beginning, but Warner Bros’ decision to bring in Ben Affleck is not only great for the Batman character, but for their DC Extended Universe. When the casting was announced back in 2013, Affleck had just come off scoring his second Oscar win of his career for Argo. It wasn’t long after the actor/director came aboard that he reportedly brought along his Oscar winning co-writer for Argo, Chris Terrio. Now, those of you who’ve followed this blog’s updates on BvS know that I’ve repeatedly mentioned all of this. That’s because I believe these two will be the difference makers (or x-factors) towards Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice being a major improvement over Man of Steel, which is a film that’s equally hated by many as it is loved.

Previously, there had been rumors that Terrio did some rewrites on the previous Batman v Superman script written by David S. Goyer (Man of Steel). The extent of those writes done by Terrio was unknown. Now a new rumor has surfaced from U.S. Magazine, which states that Affleck himself did some rewrites during production. According to their sources, Affleck would “sit around reworking the script.” The unnamed source indicated that he “wasn’t thrilled with it” and would spend some time tweaking certain things before shooting commenced on multiple occasions.

As always, take every rumor you hear with a grain of salt. However, this rumor makes so much sense for multiple reasons. First if I’m Warner Bros, I’m not bringing in Ben Affleck (coming off that Oscar) just to play Batman. No, I offer him the opportunity to look over what we have and offer notes and possibly rewrites. Second, Affleck isn’t an actor who will just sign up for anything these days, so forget about that guy who played Daredevil thirteen years ago. Lastly, Affleck established himself early in his career as a writer, where he and Matt Damon won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay (Good Will Hunting). Today Affleck is credited for writing his critically-acclaimed directorial efforts Gone Baby Gone and The Town. Taking all of this into consideration, it’s not difficult to image him coming on board and be given (requesting) the power to rework the material at hand.

Any hardcore DC fan by now is aware of Zack Snyder and his track record as a director. The problem with the man’s films has always been with the script. Even as a huge Snyder fan, I’m not ashamed to admit that. As of now, I feel like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice dodged a bullet because of the involvement of Terrio and Affleck. I love David S. Goyer and the stories he helped create with Christopher Nolan on The Dark Knight Trilogy, along with Man of Steel. However, Batman v Superman absolutely 100% has to be better than Man of Steel, and its because of what the film plans to establish. An entire DC mythology filled with iconic characters in one film. We already know, through trailers and photos, how visually amazing the film will look. That’s always been Snyder’s strong suit. Now comes the question on just how well the story will be, to handle so many plots, like the conflict between Batman and Superman, the dawn of the Justice League, and the seeds of an entire DC slate of films being planted. Right now, I’m giving this team the benefit of the doubt, and I’m crossing my fingers that Batman v Superman will be a hit.